The Burden of Skepticism
Delivered at the CSICOP conference in Pasadena in 1987, advocating for a balance between open-minded wonder and rigorous scientific skepticism.
Full Transcript
It seems to me that what is needed is a delicate balance between two tendencies which are in tension: one is an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be.
The other tendency is the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, new and old—this is how we sift wheat from chaff.
If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You never learn anything new. You become a crochety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world.
On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility, then you can’t distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. Its goal is to find out how the universe really is, regardless of what we wish it to be.
Defining Key Excerpts
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
"If you are open to the point of gullibility, then you can't distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones."
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